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Im thinking about the CFI-II program in South FL. Anyone been there and done that? What did you think?

Quote:

Originally Posted by yacko (Post 446208)

I did my commercial training at the dupage branch. They were the most disorganized outfit I have ever been at. They constantly changed my schedule around without notifying me when I was driving three hours each day to get there. They tried to get me to borrow way more money than what was quoted as the price and then added all kinds of extra fees to stack the bill up. When I was finished they would not return the left over money to the bank I borrowed from for several months and so I had more interest buildup that I had to pay. Also, I had the gibill and had to do my training 141 to get reimbursed and they knew this. When it came time for my checkride they told me I was training part 61 and had to do a part 61 checkride. I went through a huge mess with this that went all of the way up to the top boss there. My instructor was good but all things considered, I would not recommend AF to anyone, it was a horrible experience.

Sorry you did not have the best experience there. I worked for AF for over 5 years, and I have to say that the DuPage is not always the best at organization. Having worked at another school and having finished up students from many other schools, I still think that AF does a far better job than the VAST majority of schools out there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete1665 (Post 449005)

I would hope they pay well with how much they charge... It looked like a great school, but the prospect of getting the same ratings elsewhere for 15k cheaper was much to enticing for me. My current instructor gave a very clear answer as to why they charge so much- "They have to pay for those full-page color magazine ads somehow.."

While they are not perfect and they certainly have room for improvement, they are usually far better than most of the "cheaper" schools out there. When I worked at AF, we constantly got finish up students that thought they would save money by going to a "cheaper" school. After they had 50-70 hrs and no Private, they realized that they would have been done at AF with maybe 40-45 hrs. Instrument finish up students from other schools were even more sad. Some instructors at other schools seriously neglect the early phases of basic attitude instrument flight, so their students are often lost and frustrated. The only time some of them were on course is when they were flying through it!
Also, average total training time at AF from zero to working as CFI is 4-6 months for full time student. SOME schools are averaging over a year, but they don't tell you that either...:rolleyes:

Almost every 141 private student that I taught at AF was complete at 35 hrs +/- 2.
Now granted those hours are more expensive...

Which AF did you work at? I was in management, so I worked at several (some don't even exist anymore) I worked at PTK, PWK, DPA, and PDK plus short projects at ADS, ISP and PMP. I got burned out on management, that's why I left. I'll always be fond of AF though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by proskuneho (Post 453540)

Well like I said, my instructor was great, but even he told me horror stories of AF burning students. I also did some training in Pompano Beach and similar things happened that I am not even going to go into. I have also attented ATP and my instructor was absolutely awful, but the organization was good as a whole. I am sure others have had good experiences at AF but I stand by my statement, I would not recommend AF to anyone.

Getting burned by AF management is a common theme. Some folks have good training experiences, but you have to watch the "leadership" carefully.

Quote:

Originally Posted by proskuneho (Post 453629)

I worked in Fort Worth. When the CP told me he could almost guarantee a PPL in about 35 hrs I was pretty skeptical, but I saw it occur time and time again. AF has the infrastructure and the syllabus to get it done. AF probably is more expensive that most on a per hour basis, but you get what you pay for.

i plan on going to meacham kftw to apply for a job out there in the next 6 months. i talked to a cfi the other day and he told me he was making 18 and steadily climbing. then again i have a friend that has 2000 hours and is makin 35 an hour since hes been there. im sure it varies for every state but this should give u an idea.